Opinion polls, Political Elites and Party Competition in Post-Communist Bulgaria

Abstract

Opinion polls have taken a high-profile role in political affairs in East European countries over the course of the past decade. Policy-makers, politicians and political parties made much use of polls in the early years of democratic transition, although for various reasons they were received with significant scepticism by each of these users and by citizens alike. In the post-communist era, as revealed in recent studies and interviews conducted among the Bulgarian elite, significant use of opinion polls has been made by political parties anxious to bolster their own position and undermine that of their rivals. Sometimes there has been real collusion between parties, pollsters and journalists, implying that the public is correct to be sceptical. Polls therefore perform the role of enhancing the position of politicians, as identified by Schumpeter, rather than contributing to the empowerment of the population, as envisaged by Gallup.